The Other TimeRider
by ReadingWriting1342
Summary: What happens when Maddy, Sal, Liam, Bob and Becks meet another TimeRider and her AI? Does it mean that they're not alone?
1. The Other TimeRider

Liam, Maddy and Sal had gone out for lunch again. Maddy didn't know which she preferred, Liam, Bob and Becks being sent back in time and nearly getting everyone killed and the world destroyed; or doing the same thing everyday and eating junk food because no one could be bothered to cook lunch again.

"We should get back soon" Sal said, when they'd been sat, just talking for 15 minutes after they'd finished their burgers.

"Yeah" Maddy agreed. "Let's go guys," Bob and Becks led the way back again, talking to each other quietly, whilst Maddy, Sal and Liam walked behind, saying nothing. When they reached the archway Maddy lazily cranked open the door and stepped inside followed by the others. Sal swung herself round and leapt onto her bed. She spent almost all her time sat there, reading, drawing, writing in her little book-thing, playing on the Nintendo DS. She was last to bed, and first up in the mornings.

"Well, I'll make some tea. Does anyone else want some?" Maddy asked, for lack of anything else to do. Who knew that being a Time Traveller could get boring?

"I'll have some," Sal called from her bed.

"I'll have a cup, if you'd be so kind," Liam nodded to her. As usual, Bob and Becks said nothing. Maddy yawned as she made the tea. Two sugars for Sal, one for her, and none for Liam. If she made any more tea she'd be doing it in her sleep.

Sal was having her nightmare again, but this time, just before all the rubble could fall and the fire jumped upon them and everyone died (that was when she normally woke up) there was a loud Bang! Which made Sal jump and she fell out of her top bunk.

"Urr…" She groaned as she rubbed her head. She turned 180 degrees until she was facing Liam, who looked like he was waking up.

"Sal? Whaddyadoin?" he asked sleepily.

"I fell out of bed. Liam, I heard something, from around the corner"

"S'nothin, probly, gobaccasleep…"

"No! Liam! I'm _certain_ I heard something!" Sal was shaking Liam.

"Jayzus! Can't I get any sleep?" Liam asked bad-temperedly as he threw aside his blankets. "Let's go see what it was, if it's so important to you," As he walked round the corner wobbly, with Sal trailing behind him, he wondered if Sal _could've_ been right. Then he stopped in his tracks.

"Jayzus an' Holy Mary" He whispered.

"What is it?" Sal demanded as she ran to see. "_Jahulla"_

Just bringing themselves up to their feet, Sal and Liam saw a small girl and a giant of a man. The girl's hair was un-brushed, and her clothes were tatty. They weren't unlike the clothes sal used to wear, back in 2026.

"Who are you?" Sal asked.

"Oh, God. Sorry, I've got some explaining to do" The girl smiled apologetically. Maddy had woken up and she worked her way sleepily towards them.

"Guys? Whataya doin up so late…?" Her eyes widened as she saw them. "Jesus Christ!" She exclaimed.

"Can you make some tea? I'm gonna need your help." The girl asked.

Maddy made the tea. Two sugars for Sal, one for her, and none for Liam. Then…

"Do you take sugar?" Maddy called from the kitchen, hoping that she really _had _been making tea in her sleep and no one would answer.

"One sugar for me, please. And Greg doesn't have tea" Came the answer. Maddy made the final cup. She bought them to the table on a tray, handing the cups out shakily, and then she sat down, joining Liam, Sal, Bob, Becks, and the mysterious girl and the man.

"OK, who are you? How did you get in here?" Maddy asked after and awkward silence filled only with tea-sipping.

"Well, OK. I'm going to explain this, but don't interrupt, alright?" The girl asked. Liam, Sal and Maddy nodded. Bob and Becks answered together.

"Affirmative"

"Well, me and Greg are part of the same agency that you must belong too. We-we were on a mission, everything was going wrong, and then… Greg got a message from Tom. Tom's our Computer Whiz" She explained "Saying that the base was going to be destroyed, and that he and Freya might die, but he thought he'd figured out where some other TimeRiders might be stationed, and he was sending us there, cos it was the best hope we had, then he sent a window that lead us here." The girl finished and sipped her tea.

"So-so you're from another TimeRiders field office?" Maddy asked, putting down her cup of tea so as not to drop it. The girl nodded.

"I'm Diana, and this is Greg, the AI. Can you take me back, just so I can see if they're still there?"

"I don't think so" Maddy picked her cup up again to take another sip "If you say that time got all messed up and your field office got destroyed, then you'd need to fix time first, and we'll need to prepare for a Time Wave-" Maddy frowned as she began to panic

"Unnecessary." Greg, the AI interrupted. "The operative's mission is stationed 33 years from this field office."

"Oh phew. But how long have you been doing this? I mean, it's pretty simple, if the base has been destroyed, because time has been messed up, then you need to fix time first" Maddy lectured.

"Oh. Well, I haven't been doing this very long. I was recruited probably about a month ago, but it's hard to tell with the Time Bubble. Tom and Freya have been doing this longer than me."

"I wouldn't worry about it. I still can't get me head round half of it" Liam consoled her.

"That's because me and Maddy were already used to the idea, from films and stuff, but you're all old-fashioned and stuff" Sal said

"That isn't my fault!" Liam retaliated.

"Liam is correct. Several random factors went into when Liam was born." Becks said.

"I'm from 1930, it's all pretty new to me. I've been finding it hard to cope because I'm stationed over a hundred years in the future from when I'm used to"

"Wait a minute. You say that everyone else you work with has been doing it longer. That means that the previous operative, well, y'know, _died_. They must've recruited you themselves, is that allowed?" Maddy asked, realising what Diana had said earlier. Diana shrugged.

"I don't know. I think Tom and Freya have pretty much given up on the rules. They never talk about how long they've been doing it, or who was before me."

"Look, I reckon all we can do is send you back in, so you can fix time" Maddy said apologetically.

"But you _can't. _That's why Tom sent me here in the first place, me and Greg were about to die!"

"Couldn't we send you to _before_ you were about to die, then you could fix it?" Sal asked

"I don't know. This is making my head hurt" Diana complained. Maddy looked for Sal for help.

"I think it's the best we've got. You should give the Time-Stamp to Computer Bob. Greg can look after her." Sal said logically.

"Affirmative" Becks, Bob and Greg agreed in unison.

Once Diana and Greg had left, Liam exhaled loudly and sat on his bed, exhausted.

"Nice to know we're not the only ones"

"But we _could_ be. What if Diana and Greg fail? And then her Tom and Freya die too? They could be the only other station, that could be why Diana was sent _here_, why that Tom could only find this place, because, logically, you'd have thought there'd be another station in-between those years" Maddy said.

"But there is only thirty years in-between, if Diana's calculations are correct. It's possible." Sal contradicted.

"Perhaps we'll never know" Liam said, drifting to sleep once more.


	2. Looking For The Other TimeRider

Sal woke to the sound of keyboard keys being hit. The keys were being hit so hard and so fast that she almost felt sorry for them. It wasn't Liam. Liam never got up if he could help it. The best way to get him up was to steal his duvet, but that was Maddy's job.

She peeped over the side of the barrier on her bed, which was _supposed _to stop her from falling off the bed (Sal had a bruise to prove its worthlessness). Maddy was sat at Computer Bob looking at the screen intensely. Sal jumped off the bed, landing softly on her feet. She slung on the jeans she wore yesterday and a T-shirt.

"What are you doing?" Sal asked. Maddy jumped in her seat and turned around.

"Nothing. I'm just looking to see if can find the field base Diana was from. It's not easy, because our personal timeline only has details in the past, because that's what we need mostly. It does have _some _stuff on the future…" Maddy looked back to the screen. "Do you want a cup of tea?"

"You're just stressing yourself out. You don't need to worry about it; other groups can fix it _if _there's a problem. Why would you want to find another team anyway? And yes to the tea" Maddy got up to make the tea, and Sal looked at the computer screen. There were so many windows open! How could Maddy make any sense of this?

"Here's your tea" Maddy said, handing the cup to Sal, and putting her own cup onto the desk, pushing aside various other mugs and pizza boxes in the process. "I want to find them, because they have information! Aren't you ever curious about who started this? About what's going on? There are holes in the truth that Foster gave us." Maddy sighed and sat down at the computer again. "Look here" Maddy pointed to the screen. "Diana said that she was from the thirties, and she was stationed about 100 years in the future. That's here" Maddy zoomed in on a section of the Timeline. "Then Greg said that their mission was 33 years from now, so they must be stationed sometime after 2034" Maddy zoomed in even closer. Sal was just beginning to make sense of some of it. She could see little event marked here and there.

"Look Maddy, you don't need to worry about this. If Diana…failed" Sal gulped as she realised that if Diana had failed, she would've died. "If Diana failed" She began again "Then another group can fix it"

"What if there isn't another freaking group?"

"What if Diana succeeded?" Maddy and Sal glared at each other; then Maddy pulled away. She didn't like fighting with Sal, it made her feel bad. Sal was just a kid.

"I'm going for a walk" Maddy sighed. On her way out, she cranked the door down so hard that Liam woke up with a start and hit his head.

"Ow…what was that? It sounded like the roof was coming down!" Liam stood up and rubbed his head.

"It was Maddy. She's gone on another walk to talk to Foster. She's trying to find Diana's field base"

"Could she do it a bit more quietly next time?" Liam asked. Sal laughed. Sometimes the things Liam said sounded so funny.

"I think I'm going out to buy some more food. We're out of Rice Krispies and milk again; because _someone _keeps eating them! You're only supposed to eat them for breakfast!" Teased Sal.

"It doesn't say on the box you can't eat them for supper!" Sal laughed and left.

**Maddy** sat in the café sipping her latte. She'd left at 6 AM, and now it was eight. She still had to wait five hours until she could be sure of finding Foster. She needed to talk to him, she hadn't told him about Diana yet; Maddy thought that he's be interested, and maybe he might have a clue to where they were stationed. Time passed slowly. Maddy wandered out of the coffee shop and onto the busy streets of New York. Maybe she'd find a bench to sit on for a bit…

Maddy looked at her watch. It was almost twelve thirty; it'd have to do, she couldn't wait a second longer. Maddy instantly changed direction and headed towards Central Park at a quick pace.

There he was, as always. Although it seemed as if he hadn't bought his hot dog yet this time.

"Foster!" She called. The old man looked up and smiled as she approached. She sat down on the hard bench next to him. "I really need to talk to you…last Monday night, Sal woke up…and she found a girl. Sal found another TimeRider" Foster raised his eyebrows, but let Maddy continue. Maddy told him Diana's story and Foster was quiet for a while after.

"So you're sure that there are other field offices out there now?" Foster asked. Maddy shook her head

"Not exactly. Like I said, Diana was going into a pretty dangerous situation, whatever it was. She could be dead and that her base might be destroyed. There might be a reason that we were the ones that Tom found. And if they're all dead with no one else to fix time…I need to find their base, I'm close, I know it; but can't you help?"

"Maddy" Foster began as he held one of her hands. "Diana seems like a capable enough girl; and her team seems intelligent, can't you just assume she made it? Or that this Tom and Freya were resourceful enough to make it through?"

"No! This is the entire future of mankind! Don't you think it's _wise_ to be careful?"

"I don't know Maddy. Do what you think is right, but listen to Sal and Liam. What have they been telling you?"

"Well, Liam was still asleep when I left. And I think Sal is a bit scared. Look, I just came here for some help! Do you have any idea where the other group is?" Maddy stood up. Foster smiled at the girl once more.

"I don't know Maddy. I know lots of things, but where they are? That's what I don't know"

"Well, do you know anything that's going on around 2030? There's basically nothing on the future in our personal records!" Foster frowned.

"You should ask for help" Foster told her.

"Who?"

"Sal, Liam, Bob"

"You forgot-oh yeah. We have two AI's now. Bob and Becks"

"A female AI?"

"Yeah, Sal put in the wrong one. But she's really good. And what will they know that I don't?"

"You don't know until you ask" Maddy sighed.

"I suppose I'll be making my way back now. Thanks Foster, I suppose"

"You're welcome Maddy" Maddy sighed and walked back towards the Williamsburg Bridge with her shoulders slumping. It wasn't as if she was _completely _clueless, she did have three possibilities!

Option number one was Washington DC, 2023, when President Schwarzenegger was (will be?) assassinated. The problem Maddy had was that it seemed too early.

Option number two was London 2039, when explosives were set up inside the Houses of Parliament and forty-two people lost their lives. Maddy thought this one was likely, but…

Then there was option number three. A massive earthquake hit the city of Adelaide, Australia 2040.

**Sal** looked up expectantly when Maddy came back. Liam had been playing and losing a game of chess with Bob for almost two hours now. She was thinking of getting them to come out for lunch again soon. Sal swore that if it wasn't for her, they'd all starve to death.

"Did you get anywhere?" Sal asked. Maddy sat down at the computer again and frowned at their screensaver.

"I already have three options. Washington 2023. London 2039. Or Adelaide 2040. No idea which."

"Why not take a guess? Washington 2023, that seems a bit early to me, surely she would've said 90 years then?"

"She might have been rounding up…" Maddy began typing as soon as the computer was woken up. Sal sighed.

"All these _shad-yah _numbers! I never liked math. Take an educated guess Maddy, I'll try and dissuade Liam from his chess. Bob keeps beating him"

Maddy sat by herself. Sal didn't think it was 2023. Neither did she really. So…London or Adelaide? An educated guess…


	3. Found The Other TimeRider

"Liam! Get into the displacement cylinder! You have three minutes!" Maddy screamed from her chair. She _had _been excited. Now she was terrified.

"I'm coming already!" Liam yelled, as he ran towards the displacement cylinder. "I hate that goldfish bowl, I do" Liam half-muttered to Sal. Sal grinned.

"I'd do anything to go backwards and forwards in time, like you" Sal wished aloud. Maddy walked over to join their conversation.

"No way, Sal. Last time was an exception. And why aren't you in already?" Maddy asked Liam as she lowered herself in, wincing at the cold water. Liam grumbled some more and obliged. Bob was already waiting.

"OK Sal. Computer Bob already has the coordinates and we'll be sent off automatically. Becks is here if you need her, alright?"

"Right" Sal agreed, nodding her head.

"And-" Maddy begun, but Sal out-yelled her.

"Thirty seconds!" Sal yelled. Maddy was fussing like a mother hen. Sal knew Maddy felt guilty about leaving her on her own, but Sal could look after herself; she was fourteen now! Maddy sighed, and pulled Liam down with her when they had five seconds left. With a loud pop, Bob, Maddy and Liam all disappeared along with the water inside the displacement cylinder. Sal grinned mischievously. Maybe she wasn't going back in time…but now no one would complain about the music being loud. Well, there was Becks, but she wouldn't mind.

"Hey Becks!" Sal called. The AI quickly appeared.

"Yes Sal?"

"Listen to this, I found it in our music files. It's called 'A Bar in Amsterdam'. Amsterdam's in France right?"

"Incorrect Sal. Amsterdam is located in Holland" Sal shrugged

"Listen anyway" She said, turned the volume up so high that the Domino Pizza boxes were all but jumping off the desk.

**Maddy **put the clothes she'd bought in the bag on as quickly as possible. Liam was already dressed and staring around the corner at the version of London that'd they'd found themselves in. Bob had got his clothes on the quickest and he was assessing the scene for signs of danger, or where the other field base might be.

"You should see this Maddy! It's nothing like how I imagined London…It's all flashy and…" Liam searched for a word "Futurey!" Maddy stumbled with her jeans. When she was done she walked towards Liam. Maddy gasped. She'd never been to England herself, but she'd seen photos of London. She could see the Thames, bursting with strange boats that looked like white squashed pods, with windows around the side bobbing on the green-black, polluted water. And surprisingly she could still see the London eye. She hadn't expected it to be there. She frowned and wondered why it was moving so slowly, she'd always thought it was like a giant Carnival wheel.

"…and just look at that big wheel! What's that?"

"It is known as the London Eye or Millennium Wheel. It was first erected in 1999, but after an accident in 2030 it was removed, but restored in full in 2037" Bob answered.

"Wow…" Liam breathed. "Can we have a go on it?" Maddy grabbed Liam by the arm and began walking towards the Thames.

"No. We're here to find another TimeRiders field office"

"But if we have time left when we're finished…?"

"No! We need to find…We need….Bob? Which way?" Maddy stopped and looked around confused.

"Unknown. I recommend I begin a scan for tachyon particles in the surrounding area" Maddy nodded, Liam continued to stare at the world around in wonder.

"Just a moment….scanning for tachyon particles….Just a moment…"

"Is your friend OK?" An old lady asked as she walked past.

"Oh, yes. Bob's just…Bob here's just talking to himself, so he is" Liam assured as he patted Bob's meaty shoulder. The old lady frowned and hobbled away. Maddy watched the scene frowning worriedly.

"Hurry up Bob!" She hissed under her voice.

"No particles detected in the area" Bob finally concluded.

Liam and Maddy spun around when they heard a loud Thud! Bob turned his head. A tall girl about Maddy's age was staring at them. She looked down, shocked, when she saw she'd dropped her paper bags. After she picked them up, she hurried towards Maddy, Bob and Liam.

"What did you say?" She asked Bob.

"Unauthorised information"

"Why do you want to know?" Maddy asked with an edge of hostility. The girl faltered.

"It-He just-He sounded like…like a…an…AI_"_ Maddy narrowed her eyes at the girl suspiciously. She couldn't go trusting this girl just because she'd spotted Bob was an AI. It was common technology in this time period, or at least that's what she assumed.

"And?"

"Well, it's just...do you know about something called _The Agency?"_ Maddy stood up very straight

"Excuse me…are you….are you Freya?" It was the girls turn to look surprised.

"Yes" She answered, surprised. Maddy grinned.

"I've been looking for you! I'm Maddy, this is Liam, and this is Bob. Can you…take us to your…?" Freya seemed confused for a moment, then opened her mouth and raised her eyebrows in understanding.

"Oh! Yes, of course, come with me. You're lucky I found you. You sound very American" Freya giggled as she picked up her shopping bags. Maddy snorted.

"Hey!" Liam protested. "I'm not American" Freya smiled.

"No. You're very Irish, and that's quite rare nowadays. Come with me"

Freya walked quickly between the people. Maddy wondered at how some things seemed so similar to 2010, whereas other things seemed amazing. People still bustled about, men and women in suits, mothers with babies all going about their daily business. But the men and woman wearing suits stepped onto the 'boat pods' as if it was normal, which Maddy supposed it was for them. And the mothers pushed their children along in push chairs that looked nothing like the ones she knew. They were covered entirely, Maddy wondered how the children inside could breathe. Also the air seemed foggier, Maddy supposed it must be some form of pollution. The thing that really put her on edge was the atmosphere, the way everything was. It all seemed so _temporary_. As if it were about to break down, it definitely wasn't a happy place.

"Why are all the push chairs covered like that?" Maddy asked.

"It's the air. Some of the gas could be dangerous to small children." Freya answered matter-of-factly. Maddy still thought that they looked sinister. "The air is worse in the cities. In this time period lots of small towns have been expanding because so many people move to the country...which kinda makes the whole thing redundant. London is half the size it was five years ago." Liam listened in fascination. But it was so big! Well, he supposed New York in 2001 was much larger, but still.

Freya walked away from the Thames. They walked past less and less people, until finally Freya stopped in front of a boarded up underground entrance, covered in graffiti and old-looking newspapers.

"Through here." She pointed at the wooden boards "And careful when you go through, some of the edges have splinters on" Liam, Bob and Maddy couldn't see how they were supposed to go in. But Freya put her hand in the small space between the rough wood and the cold ground. She searched around the back of the wood for a second, and a moment later they heard a loud click and a section of wood swung open like a door. Freya gestured for Bob, Liam and Maddy to enter.

"Not much of a home…" Liam commented as he stared around at the bleak scene around him. There was no light and the darkness was cold. Freya laughed as she shut the door.

"I know. But just walk down here a bit. There's a light switch further down." Maddy and Liam squinted to see Freya in the dark. Bob brought up the rear.

"Now careful here. There are some old ticket machine things. You can tell this station hasn't been used in a while, can't you? This is technology from almost 20 years back" Freya giggled as she held the barriers open.

"Thank you very much" Liam nodded. Freya smiled in acknowledgement.

"Down the stairs?" Maddy called from the darkness.

"Yeah…uh…wait there. The path splits at the bottom. Wait for me; I'll be just there…" Freya called. Maddy could hear Freya juggling her shopping bags as she hurried towards them. "OK, just walk down to the bottom, and then turn _left_. Keep on going down the corridor and then turn _right _onto one of the platforms. That'll be where Tom is, because we keep the computers there. I swear he is _glued _to that seat"

"Is there a light switch?" Liam asked nervously, unwilling to step into the eerie darkness.

"Oh yes! I'll just pull the…it'll put all the light on in the corridors"

"Thanks!" Liam thanked her. The lights turned on slowly, one by one, to reveal a passageway full of creepy old advertisements for old movies and plays. Maddy shivered. This place was just a little freaky.

"Sorry about the old décor. We were thinking of painting over them in blue. What do you think?" There was no answer. Freya shrugged. "Tom'll be ecstatic to see you. He loves it when he's right" Freya rolled her eyes just thinking about it.

"So…Is this some sort of old Subway station?" Maddy asked.

"Underground station. In England we call it the Underground. And yes, it is. Still has the sign on the platform and everything. This way." Bob stopped Liam from turning the wrong way and Maddy ran a bit to catch up with Freya.

"So…I came looking for you for a number of reasons, but…is Diana OK?" Maddy asked nervously. Freya's eyes clouded over.

"She corrected the timeline. But when she got back she was _not _in a good way. She's broken both her legs and one arm, and Greg was killed. We've had to grow another AI. Thankfully we have most of Greg's memories stored onto the computer"

"What do you do if you need to send Diana back in time? Surely she couldn't do much with two broken legs and a broken arm?"

"Yeah. No, we thought of that, Tom had to find someone to replace Di for the time being, after that I suppose we'll have to keep her. Tom went and got her whilst I went out, so we'll meet her in just a sec"

"Slow down!" Liam called, racing towards them with Bob. "What're you talking about?" He asked.

"Nosy" Maddy replied, but then gave in. "Diana's OK, she made it."

"Oh. Good. I did like her"

"Freya, who's with you?" The voice was male and it echoed a bit in the silent underground station. Freya grinned mischievously.

"Well, whilst I was shopping I was approached by three very tall and very blonde girls. They made me take them here to see you…Said they couldn't _wait _to tell you all about how they-"

"NO! Keep them away! Don't let them see me!" The voice was full of terror now. Freya walked forward through the archway and looked at someone Maddy, Liam and Bob couldn't see.

"Sorry Tom. Just messing with you. You won't believe who it really is, but you'll like it. Maddy? Liam? Bob?" Freya gestured for them to walk towards her.

The platform had better lighting than in the passageways. A sign told them that they were in 'Hyde Park Corner'. Freya saw her looking.

"There used to be a park round here, gone now. Every last blade of grass." Maddy spun her head around when she heard someone clear their throat very loudly. A boy with white blonde hair and rectangular black glasses sat on a swivel chair behind a desk which held the same treasure trove of screens that Maddy was always sat at back in New York. He was tall, but Maddy guessed he could be only 15 at most.

"I'm Tômas. But please call me Tom" He them looked behind Maddy and smirked at Freya. "Told you that they'd find us, didn't I?" Freya smiled good-naturedly and rolled her eyes. Maddy cleared her throat.

"I'm Maddy Carter." She smiled nervously. Diana had talked as if Tom was a genius, and despite his younger age, Maddy was nervous.

"And I'm Liam O'Connor. This is my big friend Bob" Liam introduced himself and Tom smiled again. Maddy wondered if a subway train zoomed past the station if his face would get stuck like that. She felt disappointed when she saw the tunnel was bricked up.

"So…" Tômas started. "Let me guess. Bob is the AI, obviously. And I'm guessing Maddy's from…between 2000 and 2015, right?" Maddy blushed and nodded. "And Liam…late 19th century?"

"Eh…a few years off" Liam shrugged.

"But I'm right?"

"Yes Tom. You're right" Freya sighed, in exasperation. Tom grinned once more. Maddy really was getting tired of his pearly whites.

"Didn't you bring your observer? Sal?" Tom asked

"No. We left her with Becks, our other AI. How'd you know her name?" Maddy asked, suspicious once more. Tom laughed, so that Maddy could see yet more teeth.

"Diana broke her legs, not her tongue. She's been on about you for ages. So Maddy. D'ya want to come sit down here? I want to know everything you've got on the agency. The more I know, the happier I am."

"I want what you know too" Maddy warned as she sat on the wooden chair beside the desk.

"Of course! We can write it all down!" Maddy felt a stab of jealousy as Tom opened an internet page. If only she had smooth, wireless connection like him, with Facebook, Twitter, Youtube…

"You guys want to come with me? We can check on Diana, I'm sure she'll be pleased to see you. And we can see if this other girl is awake yet." Freya asked. Liam shrugged and followed Freya down more underground passages with Bob.

"So what's this bee Tom has in his bonnet about those girls?"

"Oh, those are his sisters. The only people he's ever met that are smarter than him. You see, Tom likes being right, and he likes to be the smartest. Those girls scared the heck outta him. We call it Tomasophobia – the fear of being stupid." Freya laughed, and then stopped. "We keep the beds in here, it's the old train driver's room, I think." Freya opened the door. It was stiff, and she had to throw her weight against it.

Inside were three bunk beds, a wardrobe, bookcase, and another door which Liam assumed led to a bathroom.

"Hello?" Came a familiar voice from the bottom bunk of the nearest bed.

"Diana?" Liam asked. He walked over to see that the girl looked pretty banged up. Black and purple bruises patterned her face. She looked like she'd been to a hospital; Liam didn't know how they pulled that one off.

"We took her to the hospital, used the Time Machine to visit her everyday and bring her back. The Doctor said she should stay in bed for 12 weeks. She broke her femur in her left leg." Freya explained as if reading Liam's mind. He hated it when people did that, it creeped him out.

"Yeah. It's driving me crazy already, sat in the bed all day" Diana smiled shyly

"How did you get so bad?" Liam asked. Diana smiled, then winced.

"I advise you to always take Stephan Von Essen at his word when he says 'Tell me where the machine is or I break your limbs.' I didn't think he could do it, that man has as much muscle as a worm."

"Stephan Von who-now?" Liam asked. Diana flicked her hand in a dismissive way that Liam was all too used to.

"Leader of this terrorist group. He figured out we had a Time Machine and thought it would be a good idea to destroy America, England, the Continent, India and half of China with it." Liam was about to tell her how sorry he was for her, when he was startled by a loud scream from above his head.

"_¡Jesús! ¿Dónde estoy?" _Liam looked up to see a girl about Sal's age with olive skin and dark brown hair and eyes.

"Uh…Does she speak English?" Liam asked Freya nervously. Freya looked worried.

"Maybe. I think she's Spanish. But it almost sounds like something Tom'd do. Recruit a Spaniard so only he could talk to them"

"I'm not Spanish." Came the complaint from the top bunk. "I'm Honduran. Spanish is the main language spoken in Honduras. Where am I?"

"Um…you're in London. I'm sorry, I'm afraid Tom didn't tell me anything about you. What's your name? What year do you think it is?" Freya asked cautiously.

"My name is Ana-Cristina Caliez. Its 2007, May 17th. How did I get here? Where did the water go? Where's Maira?"

"Really? I was born on May 17th 2007! Look, you ought to talk to Tom about this. I'm no good." Freya answered, ignoring Ana Cristina's growing, frantic questions.

Liam and Bob walked with Freya as she escorted Ana-Cristina to the platform. Tom and Maddy were talking and writing like there was no tomorrow.

"Tom?" Freya called. "She's awake. You could've at least briefed me. Now tell her what's going on, please." But when Tom turned to look at them, Ana-Cristina walked forward and punched him in the face.

"_Hijo de puta! Dejas que se ahogan, ¿dónde diablos me has traído?"_ Tom rubbed his fast developing bruise and glared at Ana.

"_¿Qué fue eso? Me salvó la vida lo siento! Si no fuera por mí estarías muerto! A quién le importa si su hermana no lo hizo?"_ Tom screamed back_._

"What are you two talking about?" Liam asked.

"She called me a son of a bitch! And she's blaming me that her sister's dead! Who cares?" Tom continued to glare at Ana

"I do!" Ana Cristina protested.

"How come you speak Spanish?" Maddy asked. Tom finally broke his eyes away from Ana's to look at Maddy.

"My father was Spanish. My mother was Swedish. I grew up in Oxford." Tom explained as quickly as he could. "Freya, take Ana Cristina outside and explain it all to her" Freya grabbed Ana Cristina's hand firmly and all but dragged her away.

"Found out anything new about this agency?" Liam asked Maddy eventually, under the pressure of the awkward silence.

"No. Absolutely nothing. Tom is basically making the rules as he goes."

"So what do we do now? The window will appear soon"

"Well, at least I know that these guys are here, it'll be good if we ever need help, and also, they're breaking the rules and they're fine, so why not us?" Liam nodded and Bob continued to remain silent.

Suddenly there was a loud crash from above them, Maddy heard Tom swear.

"Damn, 4.29. This happens every Friday, which I suppose is every other day. It's the reasons we're stationed here" Maddy wasn't sure if she wanted to know why, but she asked anyway.

"Today, 178 people will break English law and die in the houses of Parliament. The Prime Minister among them. After today, the world will truly begin to die. England was the glue keeping the world thinking marginally positively. Now it's been attacked, the end is coming" Tom said darkly.

"The end?" Liam asked "When's tha-"

"The window will open in fifteen minutes. Recommendation:We should await the window at the drop-off point"

"Good idea." Maddy said quietly "Bob, can you take us back? I guess...we have have to leave now. See you" Maddy waved to Tom. Tom said nothing for a while, and then just before they were out of sight, he called out.

"You should drop by again sometime, you should know how lonely this gets, boring too. And of course, we'll be happy to help next time you have an issue. Gods knows when that'll be though. Nothing ever goes wrong for us" That stopped Maddy in her tracks.

"Nothing? Lucky! It's two a penny for us! And thanks for the offer. Maybe Sal could come around sometime, though with Ana Cristina around now I can't imagine that your life will be very boring any more. She hates your guts!" Maddy yelled before leaving down the passageway with Liam and Bob.

"Well, that was interesting. Can I go on the big wheel quickly before the window appears?" Liam asked desperately.

"No. There isn't enough time. Besides, we need to get back for Sal. I'd be surprised if she hasn't broken our sound system already"

Sorry about my terrible Spanish! I'm not great at the subject and most of it was thanks to Google Translate, so if you happen to have a better knowledge of the language I'll be happy and grateful if you could help me out, cos' I'm well aware how weird it's written out!


End file.
